Mario Balotelli has offered an extraordinary response to Jamie Carragher's criticism of his time at Liverpool, branding the Reds great his "best hater".

Following the Italian's move to Nice, the Sky Sports pundit took to his Twitter account to claim that the French club were "still paying over the odds" for a free transfer.

And Balotelli has now hit back on his own account, with a riposte that is likely to further enrage Liverpool supporters disappointed by his underwhelming spell at Anfield.

"Jamie Carragher, bad player, wonderful hater, who cares," the 26-year-old wrote to almost four million followers.

Balotelli scored just four goals in 28 games for Liverpool following a big-money switch from AC Milan in 2014.

The striker's agent, Mino Raiola, branded Reds boss Jurgen Klopp "a piece of s***" for his treatment of Balotelli, claiming the Liverpool hierarchy also believed the German was wrong to freeze the Italy international out of his plans.